Occasionally, when I know I am going to enjoy a great meal, I will try not to eat much before the feast. Usually this happens at some kind of party like a wedding reception or some other festivity. I convince myself that I will more fully enjoy the fine food if I am really hungry.

That is about the closest I have come to intentional self-deprivation. I mean, in general, I don't want to deprive myself of anything. I'll do it only if a greater good is clearly at hand.

In today's first reading, Moses calls the Israelites to give the first fruits of their harvest as a gift of thanksgiving to God for bringing them to the promised land. Moses calls the people to remember how God has chosen them, and rescued them from slavery in Egypt. He declares, "Therefore, I have now brought you the first fruits of the products of the soil which, O Lord, you have given me."

I would guess that after the Egyptian captivity, and then the hardship of the Exodus, it would be a hard thing to sacrifice the very best fruits of the first harvest in the promised land. Such sacrifice is a statement of trust in God. It is, in fact, an act of faith --- a declaration by the people that their faith is in God to take care of them, not in their own toil.

In today's Gospel reading, Jesus is "led by the spirit into the desert for 40 days, where he was tempted by the devil." Jesus ate nothing, and the devil tempted him to turn stones into bread. Jesus resists, and the devil offers him control of all the kingdoms of the world. Jesus resists again, and the devil asks Jesus to prove God's care for him by jumping from the top of the temple that God would rescue him.

Like the Israelites in the promised land, Jesus insists on placing his life in God's hands. The sacrifice of the fruit of our labor, and the decision to relinquish control of our material well being, are decisions to trust God to take care of us rather than trust in our own labor and ingenuity.

This kind of statement of trust in God is exactly what we are called to do this first Sunday of Lent. The church has a great tradition of asking us to make some kind of personal sacrifice during Lent. If you're like me, you grew up "giving up" something for Lent --- candy, peanut butter, desserts or some other guilty pleasure.

But giving up pleasure is not an end in itself. Trust in God is the aim of any sacrifice, and the experience of God is the result. When we give up even a small measure of control of our own well being, we put ourselves in a position to see how much God loves us and wants to take care of us.

We are not called to sacrifice eating so that food will taste all the sweeter when we do eat. We are called to sacrifice that we might, like the Israelites and like Jesus, put our lives in God's hands more completely. It is not easy, especially for those of us who are accustomed to feeling like we are in control of our lives. But this is the goal of any deprivation in Christ's name --- that we will ultimately experience Christ more fully.

Bill Peatman writes from Napa.